Epileptic Patients – Overview
Being diagnosed with epilepsy can be scary, but it is important for patients to know that they don’t have to go through it alone.
As a doctor, you want your patients to be as comfortable as possible and to face life with the right facts. Here is what you need to tell your patients about Epilepsy.
1. It is Caused by Nerve Malfunction
Epilepsy is caused by a problem in the brain that affects how nerve cells work together.
While most of our bodies’ cells work together in an organized way, a person with epilepsy may have nerve cells that randomly send out electrical impulses.
These impulses can cause strange sensations, emotions, and behaviors and interfere with normal body movement.
2. Epilepsy is Not Contagious
Epilepsy does not spread from person to person, like colds or fever. It is not an infectious disease. Even if a friend has epilepsy, you will not catch it by being around them.
3. Epilepsy Affects People in Different Ways and can Change Over Time
Some people have epilepsy that is easily controlled with medication, while others have severe seizures that happen many times each day and cannot be controlled with medication.
A seizure looks different for every person who has one. Symptoms include convulsions, loss of consciousness, impaired awareness and confusion, muscle twitching and unusual sensations.
4. Epilepsy is not Just Seizures
Seizures are one of the symptoms of epilepsy but they aren’t the only ones. While many seizures are brief and do not cause lasting harm, prolonged seizures or a series of seizures without returning to normal awareness (status epilepticus) can cause permanent brain damage or death.
In contrast, uncontrolled seizures or prolonged seizures can cause permanent damage to brain cells and result in memory loss or death.
5. Epilepsy is not an Incurable Condition
Many people with epilepsy can achieve seizure control through medications or other treatments, but currently, there is no universal cure for epilepsy.
The bad news is that it hasn’t been discovered yet. In the meantime, there are medications available that can prevent most epileptic seizures from occurring or minimize their severity if they do happen.
These medications allow many people with epilepsy to lead normal lives without any restrictions whatsoever.
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) do not cure epilepsy but they can control it, allowing patients to have an active life and build up an individual lifestyle around it according to their wishes.
6. It Doesn’t Mean Paralysis or Death
People with epilepsy live long and healthy lives. While many people with epilepsy have a normal life expectancy, certain types of epilepsy and uncontrolled seizures can increase the risk of premature death.
People with epilepsy can drive if their seizures are well-controlled with medication for a specific period as determined by local laws and regulations. This may depend on the type of epilepsy they have and how well they are able to control their seizures.
7. Epileptic Seizures Differ
Seizures are classified into focal (previously known as partial-onset) and generalized onset based on how and where abnormal brain activity begins. The prevalence of each type can vary among individuals with epilepsy.
These are more common and less severe than “generalized onset” seizures, which affect both sides of the brain at once and typically cause a loss of consciousness and stiffening of the muscles and may involve jerking movements or other involuntary actions.
Seizures can range from mild to severe, but when they occur does not always determine how severe they will be.
8. If you Suffer a Seizure Once, it is Likely to Happen Again
The chance of having another seizure depends on various factors, including the underlying cause of the seizure and whether risk factors for further seizures are present.
Many people who have recurring seizures eventually develop epilepsy (recurrent seizures without an obvious cause over the years).
9. Seizures Often Occur During Physical Activity
While physical activity or stress can trigger seizures in some individuals, seizures can occur under various conditions, not ‘almost always’ due to physical activity or stress. Individuals with epilepsy should take general precautions during activities like swimming and bathing to prevent drowning in case of a seizure.
10. Alcohol is a Trigger
Alcohol can lower the seizure threshold and may interact with antiepileptic drugs, increasing the risk of seizures. People with epilepsy are generally advised to limit or avoid alcohol.
Alcohol will increase brain activity and can cause seizures to become longer or more frequent or affect your breathing or heart rate negatively during or after the seizure ends.
Conclusion
Epileptic persons are often anxious and scared about what the condition means for them. As a doctor, you must clear their doubts and tell them the truth about what to expect.
We hope that with the facts discussed here, you are equipped with ample information to give your epileptic patients.
See Also
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